Wash-board



(No Model.)

J. 'I'. SARGENT.

vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. SARGENT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WASH-BOARD.

SECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,318, dated February11, 1890.

Application filed November 2S, 1889. Serial No. 331,846. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom. t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs T. SAEGENT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement inVash-Boards, of which improvement the followingis a speci- `fication.

In an application designated as A, and of even date herewith, I havedescribed and claimed certain improvements in wash-board protectors,said improvements consisting, generally stated, in a protector having apermanent connection to the wash-board, reversible from side to side ofthe wash-board, and, as an additional improvement, capable of beingfolded down into the soap-box for purposes of transportation or storage.

The invention described herein relates to cert-ain further or additionalimprovements in the same class or kind of wash-board protectors; and, ingeneralterms,it consists in the construction and combination ofmechanical devices or elements, all as more fully hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a double-faced wash-board having myimproved protector applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is an edge view of thesame, tle upper portion being shown in section.

The wash-board is constructed, except as hereinafter described, in theusual or any desired manner; and it consists of the side bars 19cross-pieces 2, arranged above and below the rubbing-faces 3, thebrand-board 4, and headpiece 5. The upper cross-piece, the side bars,and head-piece are made sufficiently wide to form, when the brand-boardis placed in the grooves cut in the above-recited part-s midway of theirwidth, a soap box or receptacle for each side of the board, as shown inFig. 2.

The protector consists of a board or plate G, of any desired width andform, and a block or carrier 7, the plate and carrier being connectedtogether by means of two spiral springs S, one at each end. Thesesprings are placed on round tenons 9 at the inner corners of the boardor plate 6, and have their inner ends pressed into the body of the board6, and their outer ends secured to the carrier in any suitable manner-asfor example, by

passing them through a part of the carrier and bent or clinched. Theinner edge of the board is preferably arranged within a recess 10,formed in the under side of the carrier along one edge thereof, as shownin Fig,I 2, and in fastening the springs 8, in the manner described, thesprings are placed under such a tension that the combined force of thetwo springs will hold the board or plate C up against the overhangingportion 11 of the carrier. This overhanging portion 11 serves not onlyto protect the spring-hinge connecting` the board and carrier frominjury, but also serves as a stop to hold the board in proper operativeposition. These functions of the overhanging part may, however, beeffected by the head-piece 5 of the board.

The brand-board 4, in lieu of entirely tilling the space bounded by theupper crosspiece, the side bars, and the head-piece, is cut away so asto leavea space between its upper edge and the lower face of thehead-piece equal to the thickness of the carrier, which is made oflengths slightly less than the distance between the inner faces of theside bars and is mounted on a pivot-pin 12. This pivotpin has a bearingat its upper vend in a hole formed in the under side of the head-piece,while its lower end is slotted for the reception of the edge of thebrand-board, as shown in Fig. 2. As thus mounted, the carrier may berotated so as to change the board 6 from side to. side of thewash-board, as desired. In order to prevent any accidental rotation ofthe carrier, a rib 13 is formed on the under face of the head-piece, anda corresponding groove formed in the upper face of the carrier, the riband groove being held in engagement with each other by springs 14,arranged in a groove 15, formed in the upper face of the uppercross-piece 2, and operating to raise the brand-board, which nts looselyin the groove in the side bars. In lieu of this locking device aspring-catch maybe attached to the head-piece, and suitable holes forengagement therewith formed in the carrier; or any other suitablelocking device may be employed.

In order that the board 6 may pass freely from side to side of thewash-board, its outer edge is preferably formed on an arc of a circlewhose radius is approximately equal to IOO half the distance between theinner faces of t-he side bars. Y

It Will be readily understood from the foregoing that the protector canbe readily shifted so that the board will project above the rubbing-faceon either side of the wash-board, and that Without detaching theprotector from the Wash-board, and that t-he board 6 can be folded downupon the brand-board for transportation or storage.

I claim herein as my inventionl. The combination of a Wash-board frame,a brand-board of suitable `Width (measured up and down) to leave a slotor open space between its upper edge and the under side of thehead-piece, and a protector-carrier arranged in said slot and pivoted ator about midway between its ends to the head-piece and brand-board,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a Wash-board frame,

a yielding brand-board cut away so as to forni a slot under thehead-piece, a protector-carrier pivotally mounted on said slot, spring`or springs for moving the hrand-board upwardly, and interlocking orinterengaging mechanisms to hold the proctector-carrier in position,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES T. SARGENT.

Witnesses:

J. M. GORHAM, Jos. J. PTAK.

